RWBY: Call for Heroes
by Escalated Omega
Summary: In the last installment for Knights of Remnant, Everyone scrambled to prepare for the worst man in history. Watch Aeolus revel his back story, and Ryan getting a grip on his abilities. Kai learns about where exactly he comes from, and the other guy messes around a bit. Can these four Knights come together to handle this, or will The Mad Man finally have an iron fist around Remnant?
1. Chapter 1: Truth

"Alright," Ironwood asked, "Tell me again why you're here."

"Well, General," A man said, pulling up a slide, "Machines that I have placed around Remnant have been reporting in spikes in strange energy that have been not been declining, but rising since that Grimm dragon appeared. I hope that we can use that energy to power all the electrical devices in Remnant."

"So you're thinking that all the kingdoms harvest this energy and use it?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes, it would prove to be a very valuable source of energy," The man replied.

Ironwood looked at the slide, which showed how this new source of energy could provide vast quantities of electric power to all the kingdoms. He knew that could put first word in, but the final outcome of this project would have to be decided upon the people in charge of Remnant. Remnant would definitely benefit from it, but the dangers of actually acquiring it were unknown. He thought about the scientific side of things, as no side would be left out in the deciding moments.

"It's too dangerous," Ironwood finally said.

"What? How?" The man asked almost immediately.

"We don't know the safest way to extract this energy," Ironwood explained, "Plus, it's too risky to try and extract, as it could cause a disaster that Remnant has not seen yet. So my answer is no."

"Very well," The man said, "I shall explore this topic more, and will come back later."

The man left just as Ryan walked in with Kai. Kai looked back at the man and stopped, examining how he looked.

"What are you doing here Ryan?" Ironwood asked.

"I'm here to tell you about something," Ryan told him.

"What is it?" Ironwood asked.

"The Mad King has come back," Ryan informed Ironwood.

"The Mad Kimg?" Ironwood said, "That old nursery rhyme? Come back when you have something more important to tell me."

The screen turned on to show one of Ironwood's men on.

"General, Sir!" He said.

"What is it soldier?" Ironwood asked.

"There's something wrong down here, we think it might be-," The feed cut out on the screen and another broadcast showed up on the screen.

"Dear residents of Remnant," The man on the screen said, "Many of you don't know who I am, so ill introduce myself. I am The Mad King, but feel free to call me King Ryan so that I can cut your head of those pathetic little shoulders. I am giving a warning to all military and political leaders of Remnant, I will be taking Remant back in two weeks time. I will allow your petty politicians to vote on a peaceful surrender, and will check back when the time is up. You have two days to decide, make sure this isn't the last choice of your worthless lives."

The feed cut out and Ironwood looked back at Ryan and Kai.

"We need to start getting ready for a war!" Ironwood exclaimed.

"May I ask why?" Kai asked.

"Because there's no way that the vote to surrender will pass, and it's going to be impossible to prepare when we have less than two weeks," Ironwood explained to Kai.

"Correct, he wants us to be ill prepared," Ryan agreed, "I'll go back to Vale and gather the Huntsmen and Huntresses, Kai you go and rally every Huntsmen and Huntress you can find here in Atlas. Ironwood, get your army in shape for the upcoming conflict. I'll update Torchwick and Attwell when I get back to Vale."

"I'll talk to Mr. Schnee first," Kai said, "Try to get some dust for weapons."

Kai and Ryan walked out leaving Ironwood alone in his office. Ironwood turned on a communicator and started talking into it.

* * *

Ruby Rose walked into the warehouse used for the Fallen Remnants operations, and walked up to Zodiac and Tyrant when she saw them.

"Have any of you seen Ryan?" She asked the two.

"Not since he left to go talk to General Ironwood," Zodiac told Ruby.

"Why do you need him?" Tyrant asked.

"I wanted to ask him something," Ruby said, looking around at the people moving weapons equipment.

Ruby walked away from Zodiac and Tyrant, to go over towards the rest of team RWBY.

"Hey Zodiac, wanna know what my team name was at Beacon?" Ruby heard Tyrant ask Zodiac.

"What was it?" Zodiac replied.

"TEAM," Tyrant told him.

"Team what?" Zodiac asked not knowing that was the actual team name.

"TEAM," Tyrant told him, "That was the actual name for my team."

"Strange," Zodiac said.

Ruby finally reached the rest of team RWBY and saw them talking to Attwell.

"Suuure you are," Weiss said to Attwell.

"What's going on here?" Ruby asked.

"Attwell's trying to say that he's a Faunus," Yang told Ruby.

"I am!" Attwell practically shouted.

"And what do have to prove it?" Blake asked him, "Cause I want to believe you, but I need proof first."

Attwell took off the jacket that he's always worn no matter what, and Eagle wings appeared from his back. Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Weiss all gasped at the same.

"Is that proof enough?" Attwell asked.

"Wow," Blake said, "I was wrong."

"Actually," Attwell said, "I used to be the leader of our people."

"I've never seen your name in the archives, when I studied them," Blake pondered, "Unless..."

"My name isn't Attwell," Attwell interrupted Blake, "My name is actually Aeolus."

"Wait, what?!" Blake asked, surprised.

"Yes, it's true," Aeolus said, "I was once leader of the Faunus, but I failed them. I was supposed to protect everyone and lead them to be strong and wise, but I ended up letting a enemy in thinking he was a friend. Almost half of our people died then. Therefore, I had lost my honor and left the Faunus forever."

"How are you still alive?" Blake asked, "That was back when the kingdoms were just starting out."

"What was the name of the guy?" Weiss asked.

"Ryan Bana," Aeolus told Weiss, "Name means Little King Slayer. He was once the Fall Knight. I thought he was a friend, until he murdered those innocent Faunus. But he was hungry for power, the power of the Fall Knight got to him. I had found out a couple days after I left, that he had murdered The Winter and Summer Knights in an attemp to get their powers."

"Did it work?" Ruby asked, completely sucked into the story and forgetting why she went to talk to Zodiac.

"Yes and no," Aeolus told Ruby, "After he took the power from the other two Knights, the power started to eat him alive, but he still wanted more. That's why he attacked the Faunus, to get to me."

"That's dark," Ruby said, "I guess it's a good thing I'm not related to him."

"It's a good thing his bloodline isn't in anyone." Aeolus said, "By the way, where's Ryan?"

"That's what I asked Zodiac and Tyrant, they said they didn't know." Ruby explained.

"Well, considering how he uses a jet to get around Remnant, he should've been here by now..." Aeolus said, "Something's definitely happened..."

* * *

Ryan woke up in a white area, to where all he could see was a very light background. He tried to look around for a way to get out when someone started talking.

"You can't get out right know." A female voice explained.

"Who are you?" Ryan asked out loud.

"Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself," The voice said, "I'm Athena."

"Where am I?" Ryan asked.

"This is your subconscious," Athena told him, "And I am your inner demon. Well, half of it."

"What about the other half?" Ryan asked.

"The Mad King," Athena told him, "That's where the other half is. Remember when you were illegally tested on?"

"How could I forget that awful experience?" Ryan scoffed.

"The Whitefang found the contained body of the Mad King," Athena explained, "They tested to see if they could build super soldiers by separating the light from the dark. They used you to get the dark part of you out, and replaced it with the Mad King's Light. It was more useful than they could have imagined. In fact it worked so well, that the Mad King escaped, leaving you to be the main experiment. Then pretty soon, you escaped yourself. They found out that perfect Warriors can be built from replacing the light with the dark, and the dark with the light. They had a setback when the lab blew up."

"So why am I here?" Ryan asked.

"You don't remember fainting from exhaustion at all?" Athena asked.

"No, I don't..." Ryan told her, "Last thing I remember was that I was walking through the forest, to get back to Vale, when I suddenly woke up here."

"Most people usually remember fainting..." Athena told him, "But then again, not that many people have had this power before you..."

"what power?" Ryan asked Athena.

"The power of the Fall Knight," Athena reminded Ryan.

"Who was the person before me?" Ryan asked.

"A big shot criminal," Athena said, "But then it found a more suitable host, You."

"What's so special about me that separates me from the rest of the users?" Ryan inquired.

"Your Semblance," Athena answered, "Your ability to create objects from Dark Matter. Your semblance acts as a charger for the Fall Knight power, like a battery that almost never depletes."

The environment rumbled and Ryan fell on the ground. The environment faded and a testing area appeared.

"How did I get here?" Ryan mumbled to himself.

"Ah, you're here," A man said on an intercom, "It's always such a drag trying to find someone that I can use my test subjects on."

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Ryan said Sarcastically, "Who are you?"

"Forgive me, I forgot it again," the man said, "I'm Dr. Merlot."

"I've heard about you, Merlot." Ryan told him, "From both Ozpin and Team RWBY."

"Ah yes," Merlot said, "Good old Oz. but I can see that you're not one of his students anymore, are you a Professor perhaps?"

"That is correct, Dr." Ryan said, "I have actually studied tactics while in my first years of teaching at Beacon. And I used to be one of Ozpin's star pupils."

"Since you're on a different level from this Team RWBY You're talking about," Merlot explained, "I will use my best batch of serum. I've done lots of research over the years after those students forced me to destroy all of my equipment."

Parts of the floor opened up and cages were lifted up to the surface. Ryan pulled up his fists and readied himself for a fight. The cage doors opened, and nothing happened for a couple of seconds.

"Is that it?" Ryan asked Dr. Merlot.

Just then a one-horned Grimm charged out of the cage and rammed Ryan into a wall. Ryan grabbed hold of the horn and began to try and break it off. The Grimm backed up, to make sure it didn't lose the horn.

"At this rate," Dr. Merlot chuckled, "You'll be dead and I can use this to kill those insufferable children."

Ryan held his arms out, and the metal started to form up his arms to his hands. As this happened, black arms with white armor pieces were being revealed. The metal on Ryan's arm had formed into dual rail guns, and he put them on his back.

"That's impossible!" Dr. Merlot said, "I've been working on making arms like those for years! How do you have them?!"

"Your worked with the White Fang." Ryan informed him, "They had initially reported it a failure and requested more so that they could make these more powerful in strength. It is with these that my semblance and power as the Fall Knight are being amplified."

"Those liars!" Dr. Merlot said, frustrated, "No matter, I'll just kill you and take those."

The one-horned Grimm charged again, but was stopped by Ryan putting his hands out to stop the charge. Ryan was holding onto the horn and easily snapped it this time, and used it to impale the Grimm in the underbelly, killing it.

"If you can find some way to kill me," Ryan said, "Then they're all yours."

Ryan formed Grimm out of Dark Matter for the numerous amount of Mutated Grimm Dr. Merlot was sending out. Ryan send them in as a distraction as he teleported, leaving a Dark Matter statue of himself and successfully escaped. Ryan made his way out of the facility, to find himself in a cave network littered with false passages to confuse anyone trying to find a way out. Ryan pulled out his scanner as to scan the walls of the network, and to find a way out.

* * *

"But the thing is," Blake said, "How are you still alive?"

"I had a curse out on me." Aeolus said, "By a wicked witch who only wanted pain and agony throughout the world."

"Can't be that bad." Weiss stated.

"That's where you're wrong," Aeolus reminisced, "You've never had to watch your family and friends die one by one, while you remain ageless! You've never had to witness everything wrong with Remnant! You bloody well never had to be tourtured over and over for information you didn't have, just because you couldn't die! Until you know that pain, you haven't seen terror, evil, hopeless battles, or a worthless feud between two equal men! That horrid day, I had lost many friends, and most of all, a brother. The man I considered my brother betrayed me, and I repaid him in the natural sense. I locked his body away in a mountain."

"What mountain was it?" Ruby asked.

"Mountain Glenn." Aeolus said, "And then that woman had to go and release his soul along with the beast."


	2. Chapter 2: Explanation

In a camp forgotten years ago, a young Aeolus stands watch over the Faunus under his care. The camp was still being built, forcing the more adaptable Faunus to sleep outside. A man with black and red hair walked up behind Aeolus and tapped his shoulder. Aeolus turned around and nodded at the man, and pointed towards an empty location in the camp.

"Seems like yesterday that we were kids," The Person next to him said.

"We're still kids Kyla." Aeolus said, "We just have a better understanding of how to act."

"But I mean, why are you heading this operation?" Kyla asked.

"Because," Aeolus said, "I have an ability to choose the best locations for buildings and structures, and you just like to mess around."

"Do not!" Kyla protested.

"Two years ago," Aeolus reminded her, "You ended up messing around with the wildlife and missed the signal, almost getting me killed. Had it not been for the Fall Knight."

"Oh yeah, that guy." Kyla said, "That guy gives me the creeps."

"Well, he's one of four responsible for keeping things at bay here on Remnant." Aeolus explained.

"Was that when you couldn't catch that one guy that attacked you?" Kyla asked.

"Actually, something blew up in his face and we couldn't find the body." Aeolus corrected her.

"Oh..." Kyla said.

"From what Ryan told me, I gained a set of powers equal in power to his when I was traveling around with him on a joint mission." He said, "So did Blizzard and Aardwolf."

"The traditional dude?" Kyla asked.

"Yes, we got them because we helped out an old dude." Aeolus said, "He said that he hadn't had any visitors since 4 sisters showed up. He was grateful that we helped him and he gave up the power to protect the world when all other hope is lost. He also had specific ways the powers are passed down through the generations. Winter knight is through the family line, Spring Knight is whomever utilizes the natural surrounding for flanking and stealth, Summer Knight chooses who ever it wants, and Fall Knight is more or less based on semblance."

"That's a lot to remember." Kyla said, "Hey, isn't that Jenkins running towards us?"

"Aeolus!" Jenkins yelled, "Incoming attack!"

"What?!" Aeolus said, "The humans said they would leave us alone!"

Aeolus jumps to the ground and runs towards the entrance of the camp to see mercenaries headed towards them. Aeolus sighed and pulled out his katana. The mercenaries reached the camp and Aeolus stopped them before they had a chance to enter.

"Halt." Aeolus said, "Why are you here."

The leader of the mercenaries stepped forward wielding a crossbow and spoke, "We came 'ere for you."

Aeolus went into a fighting stance and his katana started glowing. Ignoring the glow, Aeolus slowly started to walk around the mercenaries. When one of them tried to attack, Aeolus blocked it, and continued to circle. When the leader tried to hit Aeolus with with a crossbow arrow, Aeolus turned invisible before he could target him.

"Where did he go?" The leader exclaimed, "Bloody 'ell, find out where he is!"

Aeolus came out of Invisibility for a couple seconds to scratch one of the mercenaries and went back into it. The mercenary that was scratched looked at the scratch after exclaiming in pain. The scratch had started spreading some sort of poison through his body, and had started by rendering the arm with the scratch on it useless.

"What the hell?" The leader said, as his men were poisoned one by one, "What are you?"

"Some idiot might say that I'm a god of stealth," Aeolus said, coming out of invisibility, "But really, I'm just someone who wants to be normal. But since I can do what I just did, I can't be normal."

The leader of the mercenaries charged towards Aeolus, and Aeolus cut the mercenary's left eye, forcing him to retreat.

"I'll get you someday." He said, turning around, "We'll meet again another day, and when that happens I will be much stronger than you."

After the Mercenary ran off, Ryan appeared in the distance, with his sword in hand. Aeolus noticed that something was wrong about the way that Ryan was holdingnhis sword.

"Is something wrong?" Aeolus asked Ryan as soon as he got within earshot.

Ryan kept getting closer and closer without answering Aeolus, when Kyla pulled Aeolus back.

"Don't get near him!" She said, "He doesn't appear to be who he was before!"

Aeolus ran back inside the camp, and Ryan followed by running also.

"Men!" Aeolus said, "Protect the camp!"

The Faunus working on the camp stopped what they were doing and picked their weapons up to defend.

"Aeolus, we have to get you out of here." Kyla said, "I've rounded up some of the most trusted men to help get you out of here, with me umong them."

Aeolus watched the defending Faunus as they were cut down by Ryan's blade, who made his way into the camp.

"Aeolus." Ryan said, "You have something that I want, something that I need."

Aeolus turned around and ran off into the distance with Kyla after ordering the remaining Faunus to block Ryan.

"I'll find you, Aeolus!" Ryan shouted as he layed waste to the remaining Faunus, "And when I find you. Ohh when I find you, you're dead!"

* * *

"What happened then?" Ruby asked.

"We found a secluded place after finding out what happened to Ryan," Aeolus continued, "I was cursed by a witch on sorts, and I got live up until now watching my family and friends die in front of me, one by one."

"Harsh," A voice rung out, "But then again, I've heard this before. In fact, I was part of it."

Aeolus turned around to see the mercenary that he fought back then, standing behind him with an eye patch over the eye that was infected.

"You." Aeolus said.

"Hey," The mercenary said, "I'm not looking for a fight, I want redemption. In order to do that, I need to work with you."

"How are you going to get this redemption?" Aeolus asked.

"Same guy you're going after," The Mercenary said, "Ryan took my eye, the one that you cut, and now I want it back. I've been having to deal with an empty hold where my eye used to be for years."

"Okay," Aeolus said, "You can work with us, but don't expect me to let you handle anything important for a long time."

"Hey I get it man," The mercenary said, "My name is Bioshock. It was given to me by the person who trained me, and as I don't know my real name, it's been my name for ever since I can remember."

"Hey," Kai said walking up, "Ryan was taken by some dude called Dr. Merlot. Guy sounds like a huge Douche."

"Eh, he'll get away," Yang said, "The guy isn't even as great as he says."

"I heard him say that he was the greatest there ever was." Kai explained.

"I'll admit Aeolus," Blake said, "I was completely wrong about you. But with the way you described this Mad King person, your decision to run was quite acceptable."

Kai's scroll started ringing suddenly. He answered the caller on speaker and Ryan started to talk.

"I've found it!" Ryan saounded excited.

"What did you find?" Kai asked.

"Accuratius!" Ryan sounded excited, "I found it in the ruins to a town Ravaged by Grimm."

"Which town?" Aeolus asked.

"Wolfpine!" Ryan said, "I'm gonna take it out."

"No!" Aeolus said, "That thing was made from the soul of the God of Darkness! Going after that is suicide!"

Ryan had already hung up by the time Aeolus finished his sentence.

* * *

Ironwood stood in a small room with four other people, one of which had a breathing regulator on, and another had a steel jaw. Ironwood paced the room for a bit more before one of the four other people spoke up.

"Why did you call us here?" The one with the regulator asked, "Even though we're retired from any type of service."

"I called you here," Ironwood started, "Because you four made up the best damn operations team Atlas has ever seen. Even though you hardly worked together, when you did, the mission was carried out with the upmost success. Smoke, you were assigned as leader to the team because of your high leadership skills. Steel, you were assigned to the team because of your ability to finish even the most difficult missions. Moss, you were assigned because of your recon skills amongst the best agents. Nitrogen, you were assigned to the team because of you high knowledge with technology and knack for improvising."

"These are widely known facts, yes." Nitrogen stated.

"But those that do knows those facts are either dead or working for Atlas." Ironwood said.

"Well," Moss muttered, "He has us there."

"But you never told us why you called us here, General." Steel put the conversation back on topic.

"A threat that none of know about has come back," Ironwood began, "Your mission is to get a number on how powerful this guy's forces are. We need to be entirely sure, so be precise."

"Yes General," Smoke said, then signaled his team to follow him.


	3. Chapter 3: What Happened?

Ruby and Yang were playing a video game in an Arcade somewhere in Vale, when Ryan walked in and saw them.

"Okay," Ryan said, "You're supposed to be preparing, but okay."

"We have two weeks," Yang pointed out, "We don't have to be preparing the whole time."

"I'm checking on everyone cause I don't want to deal with Rosite right now" Ryan said.

"You mean your GIRLFRIEND?" Yang said with a smile.

"Don't tease me." Ryan said, "I had no choice, she, along with you, would've killed me if I hadn't."

"That's because you're too much of a lone wolf." Yang pointed out.

"Hey what happened with you while I was traveling to Haven Academy?" Ruby asked.

"I'll tell you." Ryan said, "I had also decided to go to Mistral, but went before the first match of the last round."

"But what happened?" Ruby asked again.

* * *

Ryan stood in an airship headed to Mistral, With many different cultural leaders on board. Molar was on his shoulder, and people were shooting strange looks. There were also a couple of kids that decided to laugh at what Ryan was wearing.

"Look kid," Ryan said to one of them, "You don't see me laughing at what you're wearing, so stop laughing."

The kids stopped laughing and ran to another part of the ship. A man in traditional formal wear walked up to Ryan and started to talk to him.

"I saw the way you talked to those kids." The man said.

"And?" Ryan asked, "I just need to get to Mistral, there's something I wanted to do there."

"I can see it's not anything cultural." The man pointed out, "Especially with that Grimm on your shoulder."

"Well," Ryan said, "To be honest, it pertains what happened to me as a child. Have you heard of Callos labs?"

"What happened during your childhood?" The man inquired.

"I was taken by Callos labs as a child," Ryan said, "They worked with a criminal to do some illegal experiments."

"Harsh," The man said, "So far they've only been working on cultural improvements. So it couldn't have been the location in Mistral. I'm Peridot Asphalt by the way."

"Ryan Xiao Long." Ryan said, "So what's your business in Mistral?"

"Cultural purposes," Peridot said, "I'm honoring the fallen villages in the Mistral. I asked for protection along the way, but I don't seem to be getting it."

Someone walking on the airship pulled a gun out of her robes and attempted to shoot Peridot. Ryan put his arm out and stopped the bullet with his hand. Ryan then sent Mogar to tackle the lady.

"Why sir!" Peridot said, astonished, "Your hand!"

"Eh, I don't need it on anyway." Ryan removed the metal casing that covered his arms to show black arms. He turned the casing into Rail guns and put them on his back.

"I think I just found my protection." Peridot said.

"Sure, why not," Ryan said, "I have enough time on my hands."

"Thanks friend." Peridot said.

The Airship pulled up to the stopping station and everyone made their way out. The stop was a cultural icon in Mistral. Peridot and Ryan walked in the building and up to an altar, with the names of villages destroyed by Grimm. Peridot got on his knees and started to enact the cultural ritual for honoring the villages.

"There's a lot of villages on this list." Ryan said.

"There were lots of Villages that fell to the Grimm before Mistral let Atlas take their outer villages," Peridot said, "Many of them have been forgotten."

"After we're done with this, I would to show you the site for the Altar of the Brothers."

"Altar of the brothers?" Peridot said, "But there are only so little known locations that hold those."

Peridot got up and followed Ryan to the site, just outside of Mistral.

"I thought this was a failed dig site." Peridot said.

"That's what they want you to think." Ryan said.

They walked into the site to see altars that were faded into the shades of white and black.

"Woah..." Peridot said.

Ryan halted Peridot and smelled the air.

"What's wrong?" Peridot asked.

"The air in here smells odd..." Ryan said then threw Peridot to the ground.

An explosion went off, and Ryan blocked it by forming a wall made from dark matter.

"What is it?" Peridot asked.

"Thermite." Ryan growled.

"Who's Thermite?" Peridot asked, "You know, assuming you're talking about a person."

A man walked out of the dust with a mask on and holding custom made bombs.

"That's the second time you've foiled our assassination attempt." Thermite said, "Tells me that Salem was wrong about you, but we already have an operative on his way here. So I just need to complete my task, then leave."

"I'm not even that important." Peridot said, "Why do. you want to kill me?"

"You hold Information very valuable to Salem." Thermite said, "She wants you dead."

"Oh," Peridot said, "That information."

"Stay back," Ryan said, "You aren't killing this man."

"And just what'll you do?" Thermite asked, "After all, Salem was the main person behind your arms. You should be thankful to her."

"You think I like these arms?!" Ryan asked, "Do you know how much of a burden this is?! I have to keep these concealed from the public, due to safety concerns! All she did was make my life a living hell! I owe her nothing!"

"I figured you would say that." Thermite said, "Which is why I lent some people from Adam. Surround him."

White fang members surrounded Ryan with weapons and guns.

"You have no choice but to give up, Ryan!" Thermite yelled.

"Shut it." Ryan quivered.

"Why?" Thermite said, "Will You cry or something?"

"She doesn't like you speaking like that." Ryan said, "Don't get on her bad side."

"Who's bad side," Thermite said, "I only see a helpless target and the image of a boy, taken from his family by someone that made him better."

"No," Ryan said, "You don't understand. If she shows herself, nobody will be leaving alive."

"Who?!" Thermite asked Ryan, "You're bluffing, aren't you? Trying to waste my time! Kill them both."

The white fang members aimed at Ryan and Peridot as Ryan clenched his fist.

"I'm sorry for what's about to happen..." Ryan whispered.

Ryans eyes went completely red and Dark matter formed over his body. A sharp toothed smile formed with the dark matter exoskeleton.

"Well what are you waiting for!?" Thermite yelled, "Shoot him!"

"T-that's," one of the white fang members mumbled.

"The exoskeleton of Jade." Another said, then they all ran away.

"I'll give you a freebie." A female voice said, "Now, who are you? Do you dare speak to my vessel like that?"

"Vessel?" Thermite asked.

"I can see that I will need to pound some knowledge into your head." Jade said.

Jade used Ryan's body to grab Thermite's head and lifted a fist.


	4. Chapter 4:Jaded Eyes

Thermite stumbled into a room with Salem in it, badly beaten and bruised. Salem had called in people for a meeting about Beacon.

"Thermite," Salem said, "What is the status on our old colleague?"

"He's..." Thermite gulped, "Still Alive."

"Why?" Salem asked.

"Ryan..." Thermite said, "A-a lady... J-Jade. D-dragons."

"What is the world is he saying?" Watts asked.

"K-Knights." Thermite said, "F-Fall. G-Grimm. S-Spawn. A-At. W-Will."

"What?" Salem asked, "He's able to do that?! Who did you say the lady was?"

"J-Jade." Thermite mumbled.

"Thank you Thermite, you will be rewarded," Salem said, "Tyrian, Get rid of him before you go get the girl."

"A pleasure my Queen." Tyrian said, and dragged Thermite off while he continued to mumbled words.

"What are we going to do about this Jade person?" Watts asked.

"Well, we have a little trick up our sleeve," Salem grinned, and snapped her fingers.

A statue of a man came out of the ground, with a sword in hand.

"Is that?" Watts asked.

"Yes," Salem answered, "Recovered by Cinder's two helpers after the Grimm Dragon was released. This, is the Mad King."

Salem waved her hand in the face of the statue and the stone started to crumble. The Mad King fell to the ground and got up in a couple of seconds.

"What time am I in?" The Mad King asked.

"That doesn't matter right now." Salem told him, "That man who sealed you away is still alive."

"Aeolus." The Mad King growled, "He'll pay for what he did. They'll all pay."

"Yes," Salem said, "But for now I need you to take care of a girl and her Vessel. Have you heard of a girl named Jade?"

* * *

"What happened after that?" Ruby asked. "What happened to Peridot?"

"We went our separate ways." Ryan told Ruby, "I came back here and that whole mess with that governor happened."

Zodiac walked in and looked around the Arcade, almost like he was in a hurry to find someone.

"Hey," Yang said, "There's Zodiac."

Ryan turned around and saw Zodiac walk up to him.

"Someone's here for you." Zodiac told Ryan, "Didn't bother to tell me his name, but he gave me a phrase to repeat to you."

"Well what is it?" Ryan asked.

"Never turn back towards the past, because then those you trust have a possibility of stabbing you in the back." Zodiac said.

Ryan grinned and ran out of the Arcade. Zodiac looked at Ruby and Yang and raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't You be preparing for something?" He asked them.

"This is much more fun." Ruby told him, "Besides, We're already done preparing."

"Yeah," Yang said, "We have nothing else to do."

"Okay," Zodiac said, "Now that you said that, I have something you two can help with. Follow me."

* * *

Ryan walked up to Peridot just outside the Fallen Remants base of operations and grabbed his attention.

"Hey man," Peridot said, "There's something I gotta tell you."

"What is it?" Ryan asked.

"I'm not a human," Peridot said, "Or a Faunus."

"Then what are you?" Ryan asked.

"I'm a specialized prototype," Peridot said, "I... I was built to replace Penny. It's not the best thing about me. In fact, I hate it."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"Why?" Peridot repeated, "I don't like it because I replaced someone similar to me. I figured this out because I accidentally ended up copy transferring some of Penny's memory over to me. No one likes being the replacement to someone... not even robots."

Peridot looked behind Ryan and saw Ruby walking with Yang and Zodiac. He hung his head and looked away.

"Do me a favor please," Peridot said, "Don't let Ruby know. Don't let her know that Penny was replaced. This comes from me and Penny."

"How can it come from both?" Ryan asked.

"Because I also accidentally downloaded a copy of her Subconscious." Peridot said, "Please don't tell her. We will let her know when the time is right."

"Wait. Is she talking to you?" Ryan asked Peridot.

"Yes." Peridot told him, "She's helped me with problems I have trouble tackling. But I would like to ask you something now."

"What?" Ryan asked.

"How are you able to do everything you can?" Peridot asked, "You know, with Fighting."

"It's actually a secret of mine," Ryan sighed, "I'm not able to defeat anyone regularly, so halfway through the fight, my body goes into overdrive."

"What happens then?" Peridot inquired.

"My prosthetic body starts to disintegrate." Ryan said, lifting up his shirt, showing part of his body that has holes in it, "It's really putting a physical wear on my abilities. I almost died while fighting a Beowolf a little while back."

"Wow." Peridot said, "So how do you fight now?"

"I use Dark Matter clones of friends and enemies." Ryan told Peridot, "They're flimsy, but with just the right ones, they can over power an enemy so that I can land the killing blow."

"So is there anything I can do to help?" Peridot said.

"Maybe lifting some stuff," Ryan said, "For that, you should talk to Zodiac.

Peridot walked off, and Ryan lifted his shirt to start filling the holes in his body. The matter started from where the hole stopped, and worked it's way inward until it was finished.

"Hey, Ryan?" Rosite's voice piped up all of a sudden.

"What?" Ryan quickly put his shirt down and snapped around to see Rosite.

"I was thinking that since this whole thing with the Mad King happened," She said shyly, "That we could get married tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!?" Ryan blurted out in shock, "We haven't even told anyone yet."

"It'll be a surprise." Rosite smiled.

"Maybe the wrong kind of surprise," Ryan pointed out, "I don't even have a suit yet."

"We agreed on casual." Rosite gave Ryan a death stare.

Okay, Okay," Ryan said, "We'll do it your way."

"Yay!" Rosite exclaimed, "I knew you'd see it my way!"

Rosite ran off to do stuff, leaving Ryan alone again. A woman with Jade colored eyes then appeare behind Ryan.

"You're supposed to be preparing for the battle," She said in a stern tone, "Not get married."

"Shut it!" Ryan snapped around to look at her, "That was my decision, not yours! You aren't in control of me!"

The lady stared Ryan down for about a minute, then spoke up again.

"No," She said, "Not yet."

She disappeared and Ryan walked into the Fallen Remnants base.


End file.
